Senior Advocate Indira Jaising has expressed her strong displeasure over the alleged ‘male chauvinist’ remarks passed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta during a Supreme Court hearing.
Jaising was presenting her arguments before the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh on Thursday in a case filed by Radhika Vemula and Abeda Salim Tadvi, mothers of Rohit Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who committed suicide after alleged caste-based discrimination in college campus.
The PIL sought action against systemic caste bias, institutional apathy and regulatory non-compliance in higher education institutions.
Stating that she did not appreciate the interruptions by SG Mehta, Jaising asked the SG to let her finish the arguments.
Later during the proceeding, Justice Kant asked the SG’s opinion on a query put up by the Court.
Mehta began by saying, “With her (Jaising’s) permission…”
The Senior Advocate gave a sharp response to the ‘snide remark,’ asking the Bench to direct SG Mehta to stop this ‘male chauvinist attitude’ in the court.
Pointing out that she had never seen the law officer behave in a similar manner with a male lawyer, Jaising sought the protection of Court on the grounds that several male advocates intervened much more than her.
Registering a strong protest against the alleged discrimination, Jaising started moving towards the courtroom door to leave, while asking her junior to take over the arguments.
The SG may do what he wished. Let Mr. Mehta have the floor, said Jaising.
The top court of the country, however, urged her to remain present in the courtroom.
The Senior Advocate took objection to the SG starting his argument by saying ‘With her permission’. She asked whether this was the way to talk in Court, noting that it wasn’t her first experience of hearing this.
Justice Kant said that tempers in his court were normally not very high.
Completely ignoring Jaising’s complaints, Mehta told the Bench that being a judge was a difficult task.
When Jaising said that Mehta could not talk to her like this, Justice Kant tried to calm her down.
The Senior Counsel eventually resumed her arguments and also apologised for raising her voice in the courtroom.
Mehta said that the whole discussion was unwarranted, noting that there was nothing such as a man and a woman (in court).
Jaising, however, said that this had to do with Mr Mehta, whether he liked it or not.
The Bench intervened to say it has always assured that the Counsels argued without worrying about gender.
The lawyers then resumed their arguments in the case.
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